On the recordDecember 1, 2011
I thank the leader for his kind words and the help he has given me to make some of the decisions we labored with. I thank my colleague, the Senator from New Jersey, Bob Menendez, who has worked very hard to do his share in moving legislation and doing the right thing by the people in our State and our country. One of the things that is, to me, pretty important is when I said to my mother in 1982: Mom, I am going to run for the U.S. Senate; I think there is an opportunity there. I was running ADP and in quite good company at the time. So she said: Frank, what do you need it for? I said: Mom, I don't need it. On the night of the election, we were gathered at my house in New Jersey--and my mother was then committed to a wheelchair--and she had tears running down her face. I said: Mom, you asked me why I needed it. I said: Why are you crying? She said: Because I always wanted you to win. The people in New Jersey were very kind over these years, electing me five times to the Senate and giving me the honor and the opportunity to give something back to this country of ours. I came from a family that was a poor family, immigrant family. My parents were young when they were brought by their parents to America. They were hoping that maybe good things could happen as a result of their becoming Americans. So I stand here and I am glad we are not taking a vote on whether I should be commended for this.…
